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My dog (mountain fiest mix??) is limping on back, right

Customer Question

My dog (mountain fiest...

My dog (mountain fiest mix??) is limping on back, right leg---she holds leg up or barely walks on her toes. I have checked her leg many times: massaging it, heat pad, 'feeling' around, etc. She has no response of pain or discomfort; what could it be?

Veterinarian's Assistant: I'll do all I can to help. Have you looked to see if there is a wound on their foot?

No wound at all that I can see

Veterinarian's Assistant: What is the dog's name and age?

Bootsie---about 9 yrs. old we were told (rescued her from an owner who wanted to get rid of her approx. 2 1/2 years ago)

Veterinarian's Assistant: What is the dog's name?

Bootsie

Veterinarian's Assistant: Is there anything else the Veterinarian should be aware of about Bootsie?

Hello, I'm Dr. Kara. I have over 20 years of experience as a veterinarian and I'd like to help. Please give me a moment to review your concerns.

Because this occurred suddenly, and you cannot find a particular area of swelling or pain, a possibility is a complete tear of Bootsie's anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. This ligament crosses the knee and stabilizes the joint. When the ligament tears there is no stability to the knee joint and the dog suddenly becomes leg carrying or toe touching lame. It can happen suddenly with the smallest slip, especially one that causes a twisting motion to the knee.

Ideally surgery would be done to give her knee normal stability because without surgery secondary arthritis formation will occur sooner and to a more severe degree then with surgery. It is also more likely that she will rupture the cruciate ligament in her other knee because she will be putting more stress and strain on the other leg. That is especially true in dogs that are overweight.

Your veterinarian will likely examine her, paying close attention to the ability to manipulate the joint and check "drawer" or forward laxity of the knee. We will often sedate our patients if they are very nervous or painful to check the knee and take radiographs of the knee joint to look for a characteristic change in the location of the fat pad in the knee joint.

If surgery is absolutely not in your budget you can try strict rest. With very strict rest the knee will form scar tissue and gain some stability with time but it won't ever be normal and it will be arthritic. When I say strict rest I mean cage rest, no running, jumping, climbing stairs or playing for at least 6 to 8 weeks. She needs to go outside to eliminate on a leash so she is not overly active.

Surgery or not I also recommend weight loss since she is overweight to decrease stress on her knees.

Long term for cruciate injuries I recommend using a combination of a glucosamine/chondroitin product (examples are Dasuquin or Cosequin) and an omega 3 fatty acid (like 3V Caps or Derm Caps). As with many joint conditions we are trying to slow arthritis formation.

Best of luck with your pup, please let me know if you have any further questions.

Hello, I wanted to make sure that you didn't have any further questions for me, and I'd like to know how things turned out for your pup. If you could give me an update that would be great, thank you, ***** *****

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Disclaimer: Information in questions, answers, and other posts on this site ("Posts") comes from individual users, not JustAnswer; JustAnswer is not responsible for Posts. Posts are for general information, are not intended to substitute for informed professional advice (medical, legal, veterinary, financial, etc.), or to establish a professional-client relationship. The site and services are provided "as is" with no warranty or representations by JustAnswer regarding the qualifications of Experts. To see what credentials have been verified by a third-party service, please click on the "Verified" symbol in some Experts' profiles. JustAnswer is not intended or designed for EMERGENCY questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals.